"No Congress before this one has ever – ever -- in history been irresponsible enough to threaten default...just to try to blackmail a President..."

U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Huntsville (Sarah Cole/scole@al.com)

As brinkmanship reaches feverish levels in Washington this week, there is little doubt about where Alabama stands on Obamacare. Those who speak for the state have been nearly unanimous in opposing the Affordable Care Act in the Senate, in the House and even in Montgomery.

Sen. Jeff Sessions was among the few late-night supporters of the marathon stall by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa, also left little doubt as to his position, saying: “This law is a job-killer that will destroy the most advanced and innovative health care system on earth.”

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley

Gov. Robert Bentley this week once again explained Alabama will not expand Medicaid, a decision that leaves some working poor uncovered. “My long term goal is to resist the implementation of the Affordable Care Act and I believe we are going to succeed in that,” said Bentley.

But President Obama has repeatedly fired back. During a speech today, Obama criticized Republican governors, like Bentley, for not expanding Medicaid, saying “they haven’t lifted a finger to help cover more people. Some of them have actually tried to harm the law before it takes effect.”

Obama went on to say that the House of Representatives was attempting to “blackmail” him with the threat of a government shutdown and now with the threat of a federal default.

“We’ve got both going on at the same time,” said Rep. Mo Brooks of the fight on dual fronts over federal spending and now over federal borrowing.

President Barack Obama (Associated Press)

Tough talk

The rhetoric is high on all sides. Brooks told the Alabama Media Group today that Obama had it backwards. That the White House was holding the federal government “hostage” with threats shutdown, by refusing to cut spending that includes Obamacare.

“I wish the Senate and the White House would stop trying to coerce the House of Representatives into borrowing money we don’t have to spend on a program that the American people don’t want,” said Brooks.

Brooks said the House agreed to fund roughly 99 percent of the government when sending a budget to the Senate that zeroed out Obamacare. The country is still operating with nearly $800 billion in deficit spending, he said, continuing to pile on almost $17 trillion in debt.

“We can’t go the way of Detroit,” said Brooks on Thursday, echoing the 2010 campaign warnings that propelled him to Washington.

Fighting on two fronts

The House last week passed a stopgap spending bill, funding the federal government through most of December. It’s called a continuing resolution, and it needs to be approved before the fiscal year ends on Oct. 1. Otherwise, the government would shut down. That resolution is still in the Senate, where both sides expect the Democratic majority to restore funding for Obamacare.

Meanwhile, the House more recently turned to consider a second piece of leverage, the debt ceiling. Congress would need to raise the so-called debt ceiling by mid-October if the government is to be able to continue to borrow enough to keep paying the bills. And the House GOP is considering a motion to require Obamacare be delayed one year in exchange for raising the debt ceiling.

That vote could come Saturday.

Fears of shutdown, default

“As for not letting America pay its bills, I have to say, no Congress before this one has ever – ever -- in history been irresponsible enough to threaten default,” said Obama today, “to threaten an economic shutdown, to suggest America not pay its bills, just to try to blackmail a President into giving them some concessions on issues that have nothing to do with a budget.”

It’s of little surprise that each side blames the other.

“The Senate and White House want to hold the government hostage,” said Brooks today. “Anyone with a whit of common sense might be able to figure out who is for shutting down the government and who is not.”

Brooks said Democrats working with the "mainstream media" would successfully blame Republicans for a shutdown.

“I don’t know of one single Republican that favors shutdown, not one,” said Brooks.

But opposing Obama remains good politics in Alabama, where Rep. Rogers and Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Haleyville, have simply called Obamacare a “trainwreck.”

"Alabamians have said over and over they do not want Obamacare,” said Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Saks, in a statement earlier this week.

Alabama's lone Democrat

Only Rep. Terri Sewell, the state’s lone Democrat in Washington, has supported the president.

U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (Julie Bennett / jbennett@al.com)

Last week, when the House approved the stopgap resolution defunding Obamacare, Sewell voted against it.

She wrote: “Today, I voted against H.J. Res 59, the House Continuing Resolution, because it doubles down on the sequester, permanently defunds the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and was designed for the sole reason of shutting down the federal government. This resolution advances an agenda which threatens our most vulnerable constituents and the entire American economy.”

Her Alabama colleagues all voted for the resolution. Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Birmingham, argued that increased regulation could lead to consolidation and higher costs. “A way to curb these expenses and address the rising costs of government entitlement programs like Medicare and Medicaid is to promote a competitive health care marketplace,” said Bachus.

U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt (Huntsville Times file photo)

Aderholt last week was more blunt. “Obamacare is a train wreck. It’s bad for American families, it’s bad for small businesses, it’s bad for doctors and hospitals and it’s bad for our nation’s economy.”

Cut more than just Obamacare

On Thursday, Obama summed up his healthcare plan this way: “That’s what all the fuss is about. We’re giving more benefits and protections for folks who already have health insurance, and we created a new market -- basically a big group plan -- for folks without health insurance so that they get a better deal, and then we’re providing tax credits to help folks afford it.”

He added later in today's half-hour speech: “It is interesting, though, how over the last couple years, the Republican Party has just spun itself up around this issue. And the fact is the Republicans’ biggest fear at this point is not that the Affordable Care Act will fail. What they’re worried about is it’s going to succeed. “

“I mean, even if you believe that Obamacare somehow was going to hurt the economy, it won't hurt the economy as bad as a government shutdown,” said Obama.

As for the potential vote on the debt ceiling, Brooks said he was undecided. He said his motivation has always been to avoid federal insolvency. Delaying Obamacare one year would be helpful, he said, and could save hundreds of billions in federal spending. But even that may not be enough to win his vote.

“There probably needs to be more than just that,” he said. “Although, that’s a biggie.”